Secret missile base under Arctic to be exposed by climate change

The concept is straight from a James Bond novel: a secret underground nuclear missile site buried under the Arctic ice.

But the outlandish idea became reality when at the height of the Cold War the US readied for a nuclear conflict with Soviet Russia by burying mobile missile launchers under the Greenland ice cap.

The project, code-named Iceworm, began in 1959 with the construction of buildings deep beneath the snow. Its blue print called for 4000km of tunnels that would enable nuclear missiles to be moved under the ice undetected by Soviet spy satellites.

US Army engineers built around 4kms of tunnels before Camp Century was abandoned. (Getty Images). ()

Iceworm was so secret the US only told the Danish government – which at the time governed Greenland that the base known as Camp Century was for polar research.

But in 1968 concerns about unpredictable conditions beneath the ice caused the project to be abandoned.

About four kilometres of tunnels along with a hospital, church and theatre for the 200 military personnel based there had by then been constructed.

The US planned to build thousands of kilometres of tunnels beneath Greenland. (Twitter). ()

Also under the ice US Army engineers had installed a power system drawing on a nuclear reactor as well as a plumbing and sewage system.

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US military commanders were confident the base would remain buried beneath the Greenland ice for centuries – along with its hazardous nuclear and chemical materials left 30 to 65m deep.

An aerial shot of Camp Century taken during the 1960s, (US Army). ()

But now climate change is set to succeed in disclosing this Cold War secret camp and its toxic contents where espionage and spy satellites failed.

Jeff Colgan, a scientist at Brown University, predicted Greenland’s warming temperature would lead to pollution of the pristine environment around Camp Century.

US Army engineers during the construction of Camp Century in Greenland. (Photo: Getty Images). ()

In an article published in Global Environmental Politics, he wrote: “This waste includes tens of thousands of litres of diesel fuel, a substantial but unknown quantity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and a reportedly small volume of low-level radioactive waste.”

He fears warming condition will cause the chemicals to leak into the surface water and spread through the food chain.

Global warming now threatens to expose the secret base and its toxic remains. (Getty Images). ()

In addition to the environmental headache, the release of the toxic materials is sure to create a diplomatic row between the US, Denmark, and now self-governing Greenland over clean-up costs, says Colgan.